Medical Assistance in Dying and Mental Illness Under the New

B P R S Medical Assistance in Dying and Mental Illness under the New Canadian Law Jocelyn Downie MLitt SJD FRSC FCAHS University Research Professor, Faculties of Law and Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada Justine Dembo MD FRCPC Medical Director, Reconnect Trauma Center, Pacifi c Palisades, California, USA Keywords: medical assistance in dying; legislation General) v EF in which the Alberta Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Pothier’s and the Attorney General of Canada’s arguments n June 17, 2016, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and interpreted the Carter decision as not excluding individuals and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical with mental illness as a sole underlying condition.7 In paragraph Oassistance in dying) came into force.1 In the lead-up to the 59, the court writes: “As can be seen, in Carter 2015 the issue introduction of the legislation, the issue of whether mental illness of whether psychiatric conditions should be excluded from the should be an exclusion criterion for access to medical assistance in declaration of invalidity was squarely before the court; nevertheless dying attracted considerable attention (i.e., excluding both patients the court declined to make such an express exclusion as part of with a mental illness and some other co-morbidity, and patients its carefully craft ed criteria. Our task, and that of the motions whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness). Th e Provincial- judge, is not to re-litigate those issues, but to apply the criteria set Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying out by the Supreme Court to the individual circumstances of the and the Federal Special Joint Committee of the House and Senate applicant. Th e criteria in paragraph 127 and the safeguards built on Physician Assisted Dying both heard testimony on each side into them are the result of the court’s careful balancing of important of this issue, but both ultimately recommended against having societal interests with a view to the Charter protections we all enjoy. mental illness as an exclusion criterion.2 Intending to go against Persons with a psychiatric illness are not explicitly or inferentially these recommendations in part, the government attempted to excluded if they fi t the criteria.” Th e Attorney General of Canada exclude all individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental chose not to appeal this decision. We do not attempt to resolve illness. However, aft er a review of what the legislation actually this debate here but focus on what the legislation establishes, says and means, as well as the scientifi c literature on mental rather than what the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Carter illness, we conclude that, despite the government’s intention v Canada (Attorney General) requires – that must remain the and statements to the contrary,3 the legislation does not actually subject of a future paper. exclude all individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness. Th e government should therefore stop giving the public misleading and incorrect information. By disseminating 1. What does the legislation say with misinformation, the government ensures that individuals (by respect to mental illness? defi nition experiencing enduring and intolerable suff ering) may be denied access to medical assistance (by health practitioners who have been misled by the misinformation) when they are Th e legislation establishes criteria for access to medical assistance entitled to such access under the legislation passed by Parliament. in dying. Several elements of the criteria are particularly relevant to our discussion of medical assistance in dying and mental illness. 8 Before proceeding with the analysis that led us to our conclusion, a comment on scope is in order. Arguments have been made, First, s.241.2(1)(b) requires that individuals be “capable of making for example by Dianne Pothier, that Carter v. Canada (Attorney decisions with respect to their health.” General)4 excluded individuals whose sole condition is a mental illness.5 Barbara Walker-Renshaw and Margot Finley point out Second, 241.2(1)(c) requires that individuals have a “grievous and that arguments have been made in the alternative to the eff ect that irremediable medical condition.” S.241.2(2) then states: Carter “leaves open the possibility that it would be unconstitutional to bar a capable adult from making the fundamentally important (2) A person has a grievous and irremediable medical condition and personal medical decision that he or she can no longer tolerate only if they meet all of the following criteria: (a) they have a the irremediable suff ering of a treatment-resistant, severe mental serious and incurable illness, disease or disability; (b) they are illness.”6. Th e leading authority on this point is Canada (Attorney in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability; (c) that JEMH · 2016 · Open Volume | 1 © 2016 Journal of Ethics in Mental Health (ISSN: 1916-2405) B illness, disease or disability or that state of decline causes them In terms of the Carter decision, the concept of reasonable enduring physical or psychological suff ering that is intolerable foreseeable death is consistent with the factual to them and that cannot be relieved under conditions that they circumstances of Carter and persons in the situation of consider acceptable; and (d) their natural death has become Ms. Taylor and Ms. Carter i.e., taking into account all reasonably foreseeable, taking into account all of their medical of the patient’s medical circumstances, they were on an circumstances, without a prognosis necessarily having been irreversible trajectory toward death. In all of the medical made as to the specifi c length of time that they have remaining. circumstances of the person, it is fairly clear to the medical practitioner/nurse practitioner (and the second confi rming Explicitly with respect to mental illness, s.9.1(1) of the Act practitioner) that the person is on an irreversible trajectory establishes: toward death, even if the practitioner cannot give a specifi c period of time for the prognosis.9 Th e Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health must, no later than 180 days aft er the day on which this Act receives Advanced state of irreversible decline in capability royal assent, initiate one or more independent reviews of issues relating to requests by mature minors for medical assistance in When combined with the requirements that death be dying, to advance requests and to requests where mental illness reasonably foreseeable and that the person be suff ering is the sole underlying medical condition. intolerably, the requirement to be in an advanced state of irreversible decline ensures that medical assistance in Section 9.1(2) then establishes: dying would be available to those who are in an irreversible decline towards death, even if that death is not anticipated in Th e Minister of Justice and the Minister of Health must, no the short term. Th is approach to eligibility gives individuals later than two years aft er the day on which a review is initiated, who are in decline toward death the autonomy to choose cause one or more reports on the review, including any fi ndings their preferred dying process.10 or recommendations resulting from it, to be laid before each House of Parliament. It should be noted here that the government’s glossary defi nition does not even include the word “capability.” It should because the use of that term introduces serious ambiguity into the legislation 2. What does the legislation mean –capability to do what? I can be in an advanced state of irreversible with respect to mental illness? decline in capability to see (i.e., I am blind as a result of macular degeneration) or to regulate my blood sugar levels (i.e., I have adult-onset diabetes). Have I met this criterion? Furthermore, the a. Th e government’s interpretation text of the defi nition of the phrase “advanced state of irreversible decline in capability” literally adds nothing beyond that which is According to various documents and public statements, the included in the defi nition of “reasonably foreseeable death.” government would have Canadians believe that individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness are excluded from Th e government’s glossary does not off er a defi nition of “incurable” access to medical assistance in dying. In its online glossary re: and the online information provided by the government about the terminology used in the legislation, the government states the new legislation (posted aft er it came into force) inexplicably leaves following: out the element of “incurable” in its description of the eligibility criteria.11 However, conclusions can be drawn about what the Reasonably foreseeable death government intended to capture from testimony provided during the process of Parliament reviewing the draft legislation. According “Natural death has become reasonably foreseeable” means to the government, “incurable” means something other than its that there is a real possibility of the patient’s death within dictionary defi nition, i.e., “cannot be cured by any means.” Rather, a period of time that is not too remote. In other words, the it means, to paraphrase Minister of Health Jane Philpott, “cannot patient would need to experience a change in the state of be cured by any means available and acceptable to the patient, their medical condition so that it has become fairly clear that not contraindicated for the patient, and not inappropriate.” When they are on an irreversible path toward death, even if there is asked about the meaning of “incurable” in the bill when appearing no clear or specifi c prognosis. Each person’s circumstances before the Senate, Minister Philpott said: are unique, and life expectancy depends on a number of factors, such as the nature of the illness, and the impacts On the matter of curability, there are a lot of reasons why of other medical conditions or health-related factors such something is incurable.

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